A couple strange stats out of this one. The Flames’ powerplay went 2 for 3 and had one shot. Calgary was outshot 12-4 in the second period but outscored St. Louis 2-0. But it can’t go unmentioned how well Kiprusoff played in the game, in his 500th NHL game.

So the Flames go into the All-Star break on a four game winning streak, which is still four games away from the ‘eight games (in a row) to get to eighth’ prediction from a week ago. I’m taking full credit for that.

So where do you go from here? We’re a month away from the trading deadline, and we’re a ways from the playoffs. I’m not excited for four wins in a row, but only because the Flames have done enough damage to themselves in the first half of the season. Too little, too late.

Conroy said – after clearing waivers – that “I gotta talk to my girls. I just don’t think going down (to the minors) is an option.”

It’s not an option Conny, because the AHL is no place for a 39-year-old. A 39-year-old who’s hoping for injuries to his friends to get back to the show. Plus you’ve gotta think that even then he’s number 3 in line behind some prospects who need some NHL minutes.

I’m glad to see he got his 1000 games, and that he got to retire a Flame. But it’s time.

In other news… did you know that Anton Babchuk registers one hit every 85.5 minutes? Brutal. That’s good enough for the worst average in the league.

Hey I enjoy a pretty goal as much as the next guy, but I was too busy screaming ‘shoot the damn puck!’ at Tanguay to appreciate how pretty the Flames’ final power-play goal was. Really Tangs, if you’re in the slot with a one-goal lead on the power play? You shoot the puck! God.

Three games in a row, which is not good enough to be a streak and still 5 games short of the how-many-games-in-a-row-do-the-Flames-need-to-win-to-make-the-playoffs rule. It’s eight, for all you math morons.

Between the refs, Mark Lee and Kevin Weeks, I’m surprised I made it through this one. Plus the game took over 3 hours to play, which is getting a little long to watch a non-playoff game. I didn’t think the game was spectacular, Kipper let in some softies, Vancouver dove whenever they could, you know – same old, same old. But Tanguay scored on a backhand (backhand?) in the shootout to win it, so we’ll take the two points. Lord knows the extra point to Vancouver means nothing to Calgary!

Well that was a real goaltending duel. Thing is, Andrew Raycroft has been lights out when called upon – certainly better numbers than Kipper has. Luckily for the Flames (tongue in cheek) Kiprusoff wasn’t in net on this night. Karlsson – doing just enough to win – surrendered four goals on 21 shots. The aforementioned Andrew Raycroft? seven goals on 19 shots. Dazzling.

This guy is so much better than the Oiler (who shoots natural resources at you) or the Canuck (a fish-headed Batman?). Plus, he likes to ski?!? A superhero after my own heart.

The Flame is deeply affected by the people of Calgary – he has a strong sense of pride in his city and he takes his position as a representative of Calgary very seriously. As a result of Calgary being a young city, and one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse cities in Canada, the Flame has a personality that is multifaceted. One of the Flame’s favorite hobbies is snow skiing, which is ironic considering he’s comprised primarily of fire. He has a true passion for hockey, which leads him to be an ambassador for the sport.The Flame is completely resistant to heat and possesses the ability of pyrokinesis. He has the ability to generate heat and flame in his bare hands and can launch fireballs at his enemies. He can also focus flaming lasers from his eyes to melt a specific object or blow a hole through a steel door, concrete wall or bulletproof glass. He possesses wings made entirely of flames that enable him to scorch his way through the sky.

So now we can have epic battles for comic hockey supremacy! Am I excited? Am I sarcastic? YOU DECIDE!

Well that was a close one, luckily we didn’t lose quite as bad at Toronto did in the first game of the double header. I’m sure the producers at TSN loved that, Toronto loses to the Rangers 7-0, then Calgary follows that up with a 6-0 loss to Minnesota. Yes, Kiprusoff was in.

Let’s have a look at the boxscore. It looks like Calgary outshot Minnesota 37-24. Calgary had 9 mintues in penalties… okay so maybe a goal or two could have came from there. Predicted score? 4-3 Calgary.

So what happened? M. Kiprusoff 0.750 save percentage. Ouch. In his last 5 starts he’s given up 19 goals for a .764 save % and a 4.75 GAA. Ouch. And the trade stock drops ever so slightly.

“With the way the season goes I don’t get too many opportunities to see her, and as much as I was looking forward to being in North Carolina for the All Star Game, I just know that my mind will be elsewhere.”

There is nothing I (or anyone else) can say about that without sounding like a complete tool. Perhaps that was intentional.

Comments Off on Iginla to passes on All-Star Game, awkward “why are you here?” questions are avoided

Well the game started out just awful. Adam Pardy did all he could to ensure the Flames lost this game. Two pucks went off of him and past Kipper, resulting in four straight goals by Montreal and Kipper being pulled for the second time in three starts. However after Henrik Karlsson went in the Flames roared back, scoring four straight, and for the first time in months I actually cheered at a Flames game. Trust me, it’s been a long time. But then it was kind of funny, because the Flames tied it up with so much time remaining (like 13 minutes) they didn’t know what to do the rest of the game, so they just played to get to overtime. Which was too bad because Montreal was on their heels, and you knew they would regroup if given enough time.

But the positive is this… I can’t remember the last time – if ever – I’ve seen both goalies pulled in a game, that’s just bizarre. And I won’t mention that it was Adam Pardy’s pinch in OT that lead to the Habs’ game winner. Pardy is a high-risk/high-reward kinda defencemen, but without much reward. That wasn’t really positive, was it?

Anyway, I’ve updated the current line combinations now that the lines have once again been shuffled up and Michael Backlund is back baby!